Donors Make Up for Grinches Who Stole Toys
The children of Orange County janitors will have a merry Christmas after all.
Service Employees International Union, Local 1877 received $10,000 in donations Thursday, two days after thieves stole about 300 gifts from its offices on North Sycamore Street in Santa Ana. The gifts were to be handed out Saturday at a party that is usually attended by about 1,500 children.
“The awesome part of all this is we’ll be able to get nice, quality gifts that we haven’t been able to do before,” said union organizer Denise Velasco. “It’s been a roller coaster ride.”
Instead of giving the children $3 Barbie dolls and comic books left over from last year’s festivities, Velasco said, organizers will buy Cabbage Patch Kids, board games and new comic books.
The money was donated by Wells Fargo and Lead Tracking Solutions, a telecommunications company based in Costa Mesa, she said. Marisol Rivera, the union’s lead organizer, said about 50 toys were also donated Thursday.
Sgt. Lorenzo Carrillo, a spokesman for the Santa Ana Police Department, said there were no leads in the theft.
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